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Mark Johnson
American | birth_date = | birth_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota | draft = NHL | draft_year = 1977 | draft_team = Pittsburgh Penguins | career_start = 1979 | career_end = 1990 }} Mark "Magic" Johnson (born September 22, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in Madison, Wisconsin) is a current ice hockey coach and former United States ice hockey player who appeared in 669 NHL regular season games between 1980 and 1990 after playing for the Gold medal winning American team in the 1980 Olympics. Amateur career Johnson played for the University of Wisconsin ice hockey team for three years under his father, legendary coach Bob Johnson.As a teenager he went to Madison Memorial High School and was on the hockey team. In 1977, during his first year at the university, he helped the Badgers win the NCAA national championship. He was the first Badger ever to win WCHA Rookie of the year. He went on to become the school's second all-time scorer. Johnson was also a two time All-American. International and professional career Johnson made his international debut with the United States national team as an 18-year-old in 1976, when he played in 11 training games for the 1976 US Olympic ice hockey team coached by his father. He would represent the United States in 13 international tournaments (including the 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments as well as the 1981,1984 and 1987 Canada Cup). He is most famous for being a star player on the US Olympic Hockey team at the 1980 Lake Placid winter games. Playing for the United States Of America against the Soviet Union. Johnson scored in the first period of the game, which directly led to the Soviet coach taking out his goalie Vladislav Tretiak, a questionable move because Tretiak was considered the best goalie in the world at the time. He also scored in the third period to tie the game at 3–3. The team would then go on to defeat Finland to capture the gold medal. Johnson went on to play professional hockey in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues, and New Jersey Devils. His NHL accomplishments include playing in the 1984 NHL All Star game as the Whalers representative as well as serving as the Whalers team captain in 1983–85. He also played two seasons with Milan Saima SG in Italy and a final season in Austria before retiring from the game in 1992. He briefly came out of retirement to play two games for Team USA in the 1998 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships qualifying tournament at the age of 41, where he helped Team USA retain its position in the World Championships' Pool A. Coaching career Johnson is currently the head coach of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's women's hockey team, a position he has held since 2002. The team won its first NCAA national championship on March 26, 2006. They won their second and third titles respectively on March 18, 2007, and March 22, 2009. Prior to coaching the women's team, Johnson was an assistant coach for the Wisconsin Badgers Men's hockey team from 1996 until 2002. He served as an assistant coach for the men's team in 2000 and 2002. On July 6, 2006, he was named coach of the American women's team as part of a general reorganization of the program. He will continue to serve as their head coach through the 2010 Olympics. Honors and Awards He was inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001 and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004. *2011 WCHA Coach of the Yearhttp://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205108360&DB_OEM_ID=8400 Awards and Achievements *Played in NHL All-Star Game (1984) *WCHA Freshman of the Year (1977) *WCHA First All-Star Team (1978, 1979) *NCAA West First All-American Team (1978, 1979) *WCHA Most Valuable Player (1979) * * United States National Team Coach *2000 Men’s World Championship (Assistant) *2002 Men’s World Championship (Assistant) *2006 Women’s Four Nations Cup (Head) *2007 Women’s World Championship (Head) *2007 Women’s Under-22 Select Team (Head) *2008 Women’s Under-18 Select Team (Head) *2010 Women's Olympic Team (Head) Career Statistics Regular Season Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM 1979-80 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 17 3 5 8 4 1980-81 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 73 10 23 33 50 1981-82 Pittsburgh/Minnesota NHL 56 12 13 25 40 1982-83 Hartford Whalers NHL 73 31 38 69 28 1983-84 Hartford Whalers NHL 79 35 52 87 27 1984-85 Hartford/St. Louis NHL 66 23 34 57 23 1985-86 New Jersey Devils NHL 80 21 41 62 16 1986-87 New Jersey Devils NHL 68 25 26 51 22 1987-88 New Jersey Devils NHL 54 14 19 33 14 1988-89 New Jersey Devils NHL 40 13 25 38 24 1989-90 New Jersey Devils NHL 63 16 29 45 12 NHL Totals 669 203 305 508 260 Links * Audio interview with Mark Johnson from Wisconsin Public Television Notes References * *Mark Johnson's hockeydraftcentral.com profile * *Profile at Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame Category:American ice hockey coaches Category:Madison Monsters coaches Category:Wisconsin Badgers coaches Category:Born in 1957 Category:American ice hockey players Category:Hartford Whalers players Category:1980 Olympian Category:Minnesota North Stars players Category:NHL All-Stars Category:New Jersey Devils players Category:Olympic ice hockey players of the United States Category:Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Category:Pittsburgh Penguins players Category:St. Louis Blues players Category:United States Hockey Hall of Fame Category:Wisconsin Badgers players Category:HC Milano Saima players Category:EK Zell am See players Category:Retired in 1992